Preston businesses find winning strategy with Yorkshire Bank

10th April 2015

Local business people were given the opportunity to learn how sports performance techniques can be applied in the business world at an exclusive event held at Preston Grasshoppers Rugby ground recently as part of Yorkshire Bank’s Private Banking Week.

The 'Power of Positivity' half-day seminar, which took place on 25 March, was led by Michael Finnigan from the Preston-based i2i team. The company has helped some of the world’s top sporting individuals, organisations and businesses to maximise their potential by identifying the psychological strategies that lead to success.

During the event Michael, who has worked in the field of performance psychology since 1992, shared some of the leadership methods and proven strategies that i2i employ with their most famous and successful clients to resolve a wide range of issues. The forum was attended by more than 50 leading business people from across Preston who enjoyed breakfast, lunch and refreshments on the day.

i2i is best known for its work with sportspeople. Not only did it support England to win the Ashes in 2005 and Darren Clarke to The Open in 2011 but it also saw Wigan Athletic lift the FA Cup in 2013. However in the business world, i2i has helped Royal Mail to increase sales from £500,000 to £5 million per week and Rolls Royce to reduce the build time for an engine from 400 days to 14 days, making savings of more than £400 million in the process.

Michael Finnigan, CEO at i2i, added: "Our recent work with Russell Crowe's South Sydney Rabbitohs culminated in another world championship for our little business and talking about it gave those attending the event a glimpse into a world they cannot access, yet can identify with and learn from."

Ian Hardman, Head of the Bank’s Business & Private Banking Centre in Preston, who hosted the event, said:

"Learning the secrets behind the success of sporting legends has wide ranging benefits for business of all sizes and across all industry sectors. This event, which was very well received by all attendees, considered everything from leadership strategies and exceeding sales targets to increasing employee engagement and achieving customer service excellence.

"Private Week creates an opportunity for existing and potential customers to come together to share experiences and talk about their businesses in a relaxed and open environment. It was refreshing to see that so many of our guests took the wider opportunity to network with other influential members of the local business community on the day."

The 'Power of Positivity' event was hosted as part of Yorkshire Bank’s Private Week which was held from March 23-27, offering customers a variety of events at the Bank’s UK-wide network of Business and Private Banking Centres.

Yorkshire Bank's private banking service offers the personal attention of a Relationship Manager. The service is available to people with individual yearly earnings of at least £75,000, joint incomes of £100,000, or investable assets of £100,000. There is a bespoke Private Banking package available to emerging professionals who do not yet meet the qualifying criteria.